Washington Capitals Prospect Report

By Jeff Charlesworth

March 14th, 2000

Hello and welcome to my latest Capitals Prospect Update. I will give you all the latest news andup-to-date statistics on all of the players on the top 50 list.

The Portland Pirates struggled a bit this week and stand at 39-19-9 (88 points). Hartford(N.Y.R.) has caught them in their own division, and they now sit tied for first overall in theAHL – with Hartford holding a game in hand. The Pirates are without Glen Metropolit and AlexeiTezikov who are currently playing in the NHL. The Pirates also have five players assigned toHampton Roads (ECHL): forwards Mike Omicioli and Mike Siklenka, defensemen Gerad Adams and DeanStork, and goaltender Curtis Cruickshank.

The CHL regular seasons are almost over, and most of the playoff spots have been clinchedalready. In the OHL, Guelph (Charlie Stephens) and London (Krys Barch) are fighting for the lastspot and it would take a miracle for London to get in. Guelph has a seven point lead with fivegames to play. It looks like all of the Capitals’ WHL prospects will be in post-season play this year. Calgary(Kris Beech & Rastislav Stana), Swift Current (Todd Hornung), Spokane (Roman Tvrdon), Seattle(Nathan Forster), Tri-City (Jomar Cruz & Blake Evans) and Kelowna (David Johansson & NolanYonkman) have all clinched playoff spots. Red Deer (Ross Lupaschuk) and Prince Albert (MichalSivek) are in good shape right now, being nine and six points respectively ahead of ninth-placeLethbridge with six games to go.

Misc. Notes: With the Capitals suffering through injuries lately, a few prospects have received atryout in the NHL. Nolan Baumgartner, Glen Metropolit, Alexei Tezikov and Jeff Toms have allspent some time in Washington during March. With Sebastien Charpentier returning from injury, hehas reclaimed his job as backup to Martin Brochu. To make room for him, Curtis Cruickshank wasdemoted to Hampton Roads. There are several injuries to report through the minor league system:Michal Sivek (leg), J.F. Fortin (concussion), Trevor Halverson (concussion), Krys Barch and DeanStork have all missed time this week.